Kilkenny manager Derek Lyng insists the county will return to the top despite yesterday’s Leinster Championship defeat to Dublin at Parnell Park.
The loss brought Kilkenny’s 2026 senior championship campaign to an end and marked a hugely disappointing season for the Cats, who also saw their under-20 campaign finish earlier in the week.
Speaking after the game, Lyng admitted Kilkenny are currently short of the standards required but says there is no doubt in his mind the county will compete for All-Ireland titles again.
“I’ve been saying it for the last few years when we were winning Leinsters and we’re told that it’s easy. It was never easy,” Lyng said.
“We were always performing well. I knew to close that gap again was going to be a challenge, but in fairness to all those players they gave everything again, but we’re just a little bit short and that’s the reality of it today.”
Lyng believes the experience gained by younger players this season will stand to them going forward, despite the frustration of how the year has unfolded.
“A lot of players that got runs this year, that will certainly stand to them. They’ll be in a much better place to start the season up next year, no question about it.”
The Kilkenny boss also pointed to injuries and the need for continued development at underage level, while admitting the county must face the reality of a poor championship campaign.
“Our minors are still involved and our 20s were knocked out during the week, so it is a disappointing run for Kilkenny and we can’t kind of dress it up.”
“We have to confront reality and the hard work needs to continue at under age and we need to drive that forward.”
Despite the setback, Lyng remains confident Kilkenny will bounce back.
“Kilkenny will win All-Irelands again and we’re going to have to just get our heads down and we have to keep working at that.”
“We have to take this one on the chin, unfortunately it has not been good enough this year and a lot of work will need to go in and continue over the next few years to make sure that we get back to the top.”
You can hear more from Derek Lyng, along with analysis from Adrian Ronan, on the latest edition of the KCLR Hurling Podcast.
